Dr Alan McElligott, who led the research, said: "The study has important implications for how we interact with livestock and other species, because the abilities of animals to perceive human emotions might be widespread and not just limited to pets."

Read More

Scientists already knew goats are sensitive to human body language, but the latest research indicates they react to facial expresisions.

Co-author Dr Christian Nawroth, a member of the Queen Mary team now based at the Leibniz Institute for Farm Animal Biology in Germany, said: "Here we show for the first time that goats do not only distinguish between these expressions, but they also prefer to interact with happy ones."

Read More

Writing in the journal Royal Society Open Science, the researchers concluded: "These findings suggest that the ability of animals to perceive human facial cues is not limited to those with a long history of domestication as companions, and therefore may be far more widespread than previously believed."